At The Fonda Theater On February 21st

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All Photos By Junkman

It was a night of serious thrashing in Los Angeles as SLAYER guitarist Kerry King and his outstanding band gave a sold out Los Angeles audience a brutal sonic beat-down. King's debut solo album From Hell I Rise, released this past May, was well represented. As a matter of fact, they played every track from it in their 19 song set. Naturally, some classic SLAYER songs as well as a couple of surprises gave the rowdy crowd plenty to mosh for, with an awesome display of pure metal power.

After the intro "Diablo" played through the PA system and the lights dimmed, the inevitable illuminated inverted crosses appeared on the backdrop, signaling it was, indeed, thrash time in Hollywood. Right out of the gates, King and his outstanding band, the same band that recorded the record, pulverized the crowd like they were wielding a battle-axe. "Where I Reign" was the first of six straight new songs from the album, and the crowd seemed to ignite like they had been blowtorched. There really is nothing as frantic as a SLAYER show, and tonight it was just about the same thing. Moshing bodies flew from the get-go, crowd surfing like a pod of dolphins, and the smell of sweat instantly filled the room and did not let up for the entire evening.

King and his bandmates have been there before. They are all veterans of the thrash genre. Singer Mark Osegueda is front man for Bay Area thrash legends DEATH ANGEL. Tonight, his vocal chops and menacing glare gave off a wave of confidence that brought out the best in his bandmates. Guitarist Phil Demmel, long time guitarist for MACHINE HEAD as well as so many other thrash giants, looked like he was having the time of his life. His brutal lead guitar was the perfect match for Kerry King to bounce lead solo after lead solo with, and he and Oseguedo formed a brotherhood whenever they shared stage right.

"Rage" as well as "Trophies of The Tyrant" lit the fuse for what was to come. Osegueda addressed the crowd - "It's Friday night in Los Angeles. It's been six months to the day that we last played here. Now we have a lot more music." And indeed they did. A "dexterity double take" of "Two Fists" and "Idle Hands" are two of my favorite tracks from From Hell I Rise, and, from the looks of things, the crowd felt the same way, as they gleefully banged their heads and completely let loose.

"Disciple", the first SLAYER track of the night, brought out a roar from the faithful. The circle-pit doubled in size. Osegueda, like all of us was completely fired up by Paul Bostaph and his locomotive drumming, and only seemed to pause when screaming the song title. When he introduced the song "Toxic" he enticed the crowd to essentially channel it's disgust with what is going on in the world today politically, into aggressively letting loose in the pit. For that I give him huge props.

Osegueda also acknowledged Paul Di'Anno, the recently departed former singer for IRON MAIDEN, and the band paid tribute with a crushing version of MAIDEN's "Purgatory". The instantly recognizable bass intro to "Killers" followed, courtesy of bassist Kyle Sanders who was thrashing about onstage all night, his tight dreadlocked hair wildly flailing about. Kerry King and Phil Demmel's dueling lead guitar solos put their spin on the two MAIDEN songs appropriately, and it was very cool to see the band salute the memory of the late Di'Anno, who's time in IRON MAIDEN was such an influence on an entire generation of hard rockers.

The wonderfully titled "Crucifixation" led into another SLAYER favorite. This time "At Dawn They Sleep", a classic from way back in 1985, got the old schoolers fired up. I saw quite a few "senior citizens" among the happy moshers in the pit, and most seemed to have found their "thrash-metal fountain of youth" while whirlpooling about the huge Fonda floor. Kerry King, in his signature crouch behind his floor monitor at stage left, drove the new song "Shrapnel", my personal new favorite of his, right through the gut of our collective bodies with his signature guitar tone. It is a future classic.

You knew it was coming. The familiar opening to SLAYER's anthem "Raining Blood" shot out of the band like a cannonball. The entire Fonda Theater became a giant pit from end to end. Again the bodies flew in all directions, as a sea of moshers were bathed in red lights and were now moshing at warp speed. Actually, it was more like "ramming speed" as the band members tore through the classic and admired the chaos that they had created from the safety of the stage. They followed with yet another SLAYER favorite, this time "Black Magic", that brought everything to an apex. With each and every one of Osegueda's bloodcurdling screams, the audience's collective energy intensified. It was a beautiful thing to see and experience.

At song's end, the band members gathered together onstage and held their instruments high, saluting the crowd, as well as the security who were warned "We will make you work". Osegueda thanked the openers and introduced the band members one by one. "Kerry Fucking KING" of course, got the biggest applause and the band immediately went back to business, finishing their incredible set with the title track to From Hell I Rise. King and Demmel stayed onstage afterwards and flicked lots of guitar pics, setlists and drumsticks to their adoring and exhausted fans. I noticed a twinkle in King's eye. He was clearly pleased with his performance, and it was nice to see from his normally, business like glare. As they say "Long live the King!"

As far as getting the crowd fired up beforehand, this tour picked the right bands. New Zealand based trio ALIEN WEAPONRY were great, but their 5 song set was much too short. They did make their mark in a big way, and I WILL be seeing them again. MUNICIPAL WASTE, who followed, were the perfect band to open for King. They were everything that I love about a thrash band. Singer Tony Foresta is a great front man. His character is all about firing up his audience. He is truly in his element in between his throaty booming vocals, and is having the time of his life onstage. "We're sensual" he boasted. "This is a sexual crowd" he laughed as the band launched into the triple-time song "Born to Party" that ended their set, and had the crowd screaming along in unison. Guitarists Ryan Waste and Nick Poulos are quite a duo, and totally shred. The pounding rhythm section was like a jackhammer throughout their set. Again, big props to Kerry King for hand picking two extraordinary opening acts. All in all, our craving for thrash from some of the best in the business was satisfied in one big, sweaty, loud evening in the heart of Hollywood. My thanks to those that made it possible for me to attend.

Check out some more photos from the show!
All Photos By Junkman